$500 fine for towing charge

Updated 11:02 pm, Friday, February 1, 2013

John DeLoach, left, former head of Bexar Towing, walks with his lawyer Carleton Spears in Municipal Court as DeLoach receives his sentencing for over-charging towing fees. Friday, Feb. 1, 2013

John DeLoach, left, former head of Bexar Towing, walks with his lawyer Carleton Spears in Municipal Court as DeLoach receives his sentencing for over-charging towing fees. Friday, Feb. 1, 2013

Photo: Bob Owen, San Antonio Express-News

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John D. DeLoach, former owner now employee of Bexar Towing, who was arrested Friday Aug. 3 for not lowering the company's towing charges to the city's mandated $85. Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2012.

John D. DeLoach, former owner now employee of Bexar Towing, who was arrested Friday Aug. 3 for not lowering the company's towing charges to the city's mandated $85. Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2012.

Photo: BOB OWEN, San Antonio Express-News

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San Antonio Police Chief William McManus, right, talks with Michael DeLoach, left, and his father John DeLoach, both of Bexar Towing, following City Council's vote which passed an ordinance that will raise how much towing companies can charge to haul away vehicles illegally parked on private property. Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013 less

San Antonio Police Chief William McManus, right, talks with Michael DeLoach, left, and his father John DeLoach, both of Bexar Towing, following City Council's vote which passed an ordinance that will raise how ... more

Photo: Bob Owen, San Antonio Express-News

$500 fine for towing charge

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A Municipal Court judge Friday declined to levy the maximum fine against Bexar Towing founder John DeLoach for charging a vehicle owner more than the city allowed for a nonconsent tow.

DeLoach could have been ordered to pay between $200 and $1,000. In the end, Judge Robert Lipo fined DeLoach $500.

But the judge also ordered him to pay restitution, which could open the door for the city to pursue compensation for other vehicle owners involved in hundreds of remaining cases of alleged overcharging.

DeLoach was found guilty Jan. 23 of charging an off-duty sheriff's deputy $250 to retrieve his vehicle after it was towed from a restaurant parking lot in July.

The amount was well above the city's $85 cap at the time, a ceiling the City Council voted to raise to $177 on Thursday.

Samuel Adams, an attorney with the city, argued not only for restitution, but also the DeLoach deserved the maximum fine and should be forced to complete community service hours and write a letter of apology to the victim.

DeLoach, he said, again and again knowingly violated the law.

Bexar Towing also declined to take a plea bargain in the case, Deputy City Attorney Joe Niño said.

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“How do you get his attention?” Adams said to the judge. “How do you prevent this from happening again?”

He also accused DeLoach of “clinging to the belief” that he had the legal right to charge $250, the maximum the state allows.

DeLoach's attorney, Mark Cannan, said state law, a previous Municipal Court judgment and his client's efforts to communicate with the city were reasons enough for him to keep charging the state cap.

“Mr. DeLoach had ample reason to cling to that belief,” Cannan said.

Lipo's decision to order restitution largely is moot, because the state agency that regulates towing already forced Bexar Towing to refund the victim $165, the difference between the city cap and what the company demanded he pay last year.

DeLoach plans to appeal the ruling and has consistently argued he was within his rights to charge $250 because the city had failed to conduct a study re-evaluating existing towing fees as required by state law.

The city based its recently adopted towing fee on a study conducted in the last several months, at the request of Bexar Towing.

Lipo will decide Monday whether to allow the city to pursue a handful of remaining cases of alleged overcharging against DeLoach before the outcome of his appeal is known.

He also will determine whether the city can start prosecuting Bexar Towing President Alex Garcia for more than 400 allegations of overcharging.

Lipo found Garcia not guilty Jan. 23 in a case separate from the one against DeLoach.

The city argues it still can pursue the remaining cases against Garcia. But Cannan said a prior agreement with the city should mean the not-guilty verdict applies to the remaining cases as well, and they should be dropped.